Tag: Domaine des Miroirs

I kind of hate when people post and write about unicorn wines. So many of us don’t get to enjoy them. It doesn’t seem fair. And it feels like it can fuel this sense of hype that permeates the natural wine world: get the bottle that nobody has the privilege to drink! Then Instagram it! Watch the likes flow in!

But take a moment, and flip the perspective: think of the winemaker, who has chosen to run a very small business, and to make precious few wines that they really love and believe in. Not because of ego, but because small is truly beautiful, to that winemaker.

That’s the case with Kenjiro Kagami’s wines. They number at most 10,000 bottles per year, coming from his 3-hectares of vineyard in Grusse, in the Jura, not far from the legendary Ganevat, who has been an influence on Kenjiro’s wines. Kenjiro, a former engineer who left his native Japan for the love of French wine, studied winemaking in Burgundy, worked for Bruno Schueller in Alsace for five vintages, and for one year with Thierry Allemand in the northern Rhône, winemaking is not a practice of ego exultation. He’s not hoping that we’re getting 300 likes on a photo when we post one of his wines.

But at the same time, his winemaking is about ego. Miroirs is French for “mirror.” Kenjiro chose this name for his winery because his last name actually translates to “mirror,” but also because he sees winemaking as a reflection of himself. Which, of course, it is. Such a simple, almost obvious truth, but what a lovely way to express it. We speak of terroir as the “environment,” but it’s absurd to think that the hand of the maker does not play a role in how the wine (or any product) turns out. Especially with a small-batch producer, the maker’s touch defines so many aspects.

No sulfites are added to the wines, making them an even more naked reflection of oneself. And they are immaculately pure wines. I had the opportunity to taste from barrel with Kenjiro’s winery when a friend, the Jura natural wine queen Sev Perru kindly organized for a few of us to visit him in February of this year. Each taste of wine caused us to exclaim at its purity, as well as the tension and precision. Just the right level of reduction. Just that hint of lush creaminess that you find at the end of a long, diligent fermentation. Nothing above 12.5 percent ABV, we guessed.

Luckily, we were able to bring a few bottles with us. If you get ahold of some Domaine des Miroirs wines, please do yourself a favor and age them. This 2014 bottle of “Sonorité des Vents,” made from his 1.5-hectare parcel of Chardonnay, was just beginning to show itself. Unlike a real mirror, which gets dirtier with time, Kenjiro’s wines become brighter and truer expressions as the years go on. It’s as if they polish themselves, somehow.

Kenjiro also makes, of course, Savagnin, as well as very small amounts of the light red grape Poulsard. One highlight during our visit to his cellar was tasting the Chardonnay he fermented on skins for 1.5 months (destemmed). It had notes of white peach tea, with tannins on the front palate. That’s definitely a wine which will need time in bottle.

These are wines to pull out of the cellar when good friends come over for an intimate meal. (Although we did impulsively drink one during a harvest-time lunch with about ten people at the table.) These wines will bring you joy. And be warned, they could also make you become a little self-reflective.

READING: Sorry. More self-reflection.

It has been five years since Tao Lin published a book. (The photo above is from several years ago, when I wrote to Lin asking for an advanced copy of a book he published of his own tweets along with the tweets of an internet poet Mira Gonzalez. Possibly my weirdest selfie ever, I think I was excited because he personally addressed and stamped it! I loved the book but never wrote anything about it because I was working full-time at Vice and wine-writing on the side. So it goes).

Lin is a controversial, though quite popular author in the U.S., known for his novels, which portray the bleak realities of upper-ish-middle-class existence in bare bones prose: the pointless shoplifting and fiendish drug use so many get wrapped up in; an overall sense of boredom; constant digital chatter. I like books like this because they don’t try to hide anything. Much like I prefer natural wines, I like books that reveal the world in its raw form, which is sometimes beautiful and inspiring but often quite gritty.

With Trip:Psychedelics, Alienation, and Change, Lin strikes a new tone. He has achieved a completely different voice, in this nonfiction book (he has only written fiction until now) that explores the legacy of Terence McKenna, a pioneering advocate of psilocybin and LSD use in the 1970s and 80s. I am only halfway through the book but I could hardly put it down even to write this, and to recommend it — it’s a definite must-read if you’re curious about the topic.

Before writing this new book, Lin was addicted to Adderall, Ecstasy, and other manufactured drugs. Pretty nasty stuff. When he discovered McKenna’s lectures, he felt drawn to the way he spoke about the world — the vocabulary he used, his ability to not preach or profess that one must believe in certain things. Lin had never even tried psychedelics. Lin wrote this book in order to undertake a deep, personal exploration of hallucinogenics of various classes (and yes, he documents his trips in the book, including one that he undertakes with his mom!) — and it’s all with one aim: Lin wrote the book in an effort to try to be a less narcissistic person, less skeptical about the world, and more OK with oneself.

TRAVELING. This week, I head to Sydney and Melbourne for some fun events!Do you live in either of those places? If so, please join me on Wednesday the 20th at Sydney’s PNV Wine & Liquor Merchants, where I’ll be co-leading a panel about the intersections of terroir with a beekeeper, a coffee roaster, and a seafood procurer (info and tickets here — and a copy of Terre Issue 2 comes with your entry fee!). Then, on Thursday the 21st in Melbourne there’s a fantastic pop-up you won’t want to miss, at Milton Wine Shop (pictured above), where I’ll be guest somm-ing with a special winemaker-guest-chef. Check details on the Milton Wine Instagram.

And following that, I am headed to Tassieeeeeee. I have never been to Tasmania, and I’m so excited. It’s for a winter solstice natural wine tasting called Bottletops. You can follow along on my personal Instagram if you like!

If you enjoyed this week’s apéro hour, take a peek on the right side where you can sign up to receive this blog directly in your inbox (if you’re on your phone, you have to go back to the blog’s home page, rachelsigner.com, to find the sign-up). I promise that it will only occasionally be slightly boring or irrelevant and will otherwise be the highlight of your week! (Sorry, I am too honest, sometimes.)